AT&T Adds Mobile Cloud PBX to RingCentral-Powered Collaboration Solution

AT&T Business just enhanced its Office@Hand collaboration offer with a wireless option.

The carrier has been selling the collaboration offering for the last eight years, but the latest iteration gives customers a mobile-based cloud PBX system. AT&T Office@Hand Wireless gives employees a single phone number so they can have a voice presence on a variety of devices.

Its features include native dialing, voicemail, auto receptionist and 24/7 support. It also features a web portal.

The wireless offering can integrate into the main AT&T Office@Hand solution, which AT&T delivers in partnership with RingCentral. The larger offering features voice, fax, texting, audio and video.

Flexibility Matters

AT&T cited a Gartner CFO survey that founded that 74% of companies will give their employees the opportunity to permanently work from home. Elka Popova, Frost & Sullivan‘s vice president of connected work research, said COVID-19 put businesses in a very difficult situation.

Frost & Sullivan’s Elka Popova

“This has highlighted the importance of using advanced technology to enable greater business agility and the ability to promptly respond when disaster strikes,” Popova said. “Modern, mobile-first communications and collaboration tools enable business users to maintain vital connections, both internally and with customers and partners, regardless of their physical location.”

AT&T’s Rich Shaw

Rich Shaw, AT&T Business’ vice president of voice and collaboration, said the pandemic only accelerated an already extant trend.

“Businesses need the tools to activate their workforce from anywhere to compete, grow and even survive in today’s environment. AT&T Office@Hand Wireless gives them a communications tool providing a powerful way to adapt to shifts on the playing field,” Shaw said.

Homayoun Razavi works as RingCentral’s senior vice president of global service providers. He said RingCentral and AT&T are giving employees flexibility for whatever location and device they desire for their work environment.

RingCentral’s Homayoun Razavi

“Combining Office@Hand with AT&T’s 5G network delivers blazing speed, high bandwidth with low latency, and the enhanced security needed for mobile communications,” Razavi said.

AT&T Business last month made new 5G fixed wireless routers available for businesses. The company announced last summer that its 5G coverage map had expanded beyond 200 million people.

In addition, AT&T Partner Solutions tapped two new vice presidents.